An artist with Down's Syndrome whose mother was told she could leave her at the hospital at birth has had her work shown at the Tate Modern.

Emma Anderson, 33, won a competition to exhibit the paintings at the word-famous art gallery in London after a college teacher encouraged her to enter.

Mum Mirka said she was told by a consultant she could leave newborn Emma at hospital because she wouldn't "do anything" in life.

But after a battle for her to attend mainstream school, Emma went on to get a GCSE in art and now sells her work at public exhibitions.

Emma Anderson with her mum Mirka (Image: SWNS)

'You don't have to take her home'

Just one day after giving birth to Emma at Cambridge’s Rosie hospital, Mirka said she was called into the doctor's office.

She said: "The consultant told me and my then husband she had Down's Syndrome.

"She said 'you don't have to take her home because she won't do anything anyway'.

Emma Anderson on the day of her birth at the Rosie Hospital in 1984 (Image: SWNS)

"Until now I can't digest it. Needless to say I took her home."

A Rosie Hospital spokesman said:"We are extremely surprised and concerned to hear about these comments and we would, even though it is over 33 years ago, invite Mrs Anderson to contact us to discuss her experience.

"We are, of course, delighted to see Emma's achievement of having her artwork displayed at the Tate Modern."

More than three decades later, Mirka has directed a documentary - The Sky is the Limit - about Emma's life, which has won recognition at film festivals in the USA, Chile, Spain, Venezuela and Norway.

Mirka's documentary has won acclaim at several international film festivals (Image: SWNS)

In January, they were told the 25-minute film had won silver at the World Human Rights Film Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the pair will fly out in April to attend the awards ceremony.

'A gigantic hole in her heart'

Mirka, who moved to England from Poland in 1972, believes her daughter was not given proper medical checks at birth because of her condition.

The retired speech therapist, from Royston, said: "She was released from hospital with a gigantic hole in her heart.

Emma Anderson with one of her artworks (Image: SWNS)

"She was puking over my shoulder for a month. I took her to the local surgery and the doctor said 'put your ear to her chest. It's like Niagara Falls'."

At barely 18 months old, Emma was taken to Great Ormond Street Hospital, where surgeons used artificial tissue to patch up the hole in her heart chambers.

Emma Anderson with nurses at Great Ormond St Hospital after open heart surgery 1986 (Image: SWNS)

Mirka added: "It was very damaging as a mother who had just given birth to be told your baby is a useless piece of flesh.

"Look at her now. She's a super kid."

'We should give these people a chance, not treat them as social lepers'

Mirka and Emma Anderson (Image: SWNS)

Emma, who lives with Mirka, does a lot of her painting and sculpture at the Rowan foundation in Cambridge, a charity providing tuition and studio space to people with learning difficulties.

She also volunteers at a nursery, where she helps look after the children.